Author: Mike Stenger

Samsung is a fan of Sharp’s displays and has acquired three percent of the Japanese company for $111 million. The move now makes Samsung the largest shareholder outside of a financial institution, and the fifth largest shareholder overall. This three percent stake helps solidify both companies’ relationship and ensures a steady supply of LCD panels for Samsung’s products.

Sharp isn’t doing so well financially and has created similar deals with such companies as Qualcomm who owns 2.56 percent of the business. Foxconn could soon be another shareholder Sharp with a 10% stake. However, that deal was announced in March 2012 and closes at the end of this month.

Source: Unwired View

Come comment on this article: Samsung Pays $111 Million For 3% Stake In Sharp To Secure LCD Supply

Update: AT&T’s blog post about the Jelly Bean update is live again and HTC One X owners should get the update starting today, March 7th.

AT&T’s HTC One X was released in May 2012 and users have been waiting for an update to Jelly Bean ever since. Now, thanks to a post on the AT&T Consumer Blog, an update is coming very soon. However, it appears that someone may have jumped the gun as the blog post no longer exists. Thanks to Google, a cached version exists which says the HTC One X will start receiving 4.1 Jelly Bean on March 7th. Users will also get access to the following features:

• AT&T Locker – Allows you to automatically store photos, videos and documents securely in the cloud, so you can access and share from your smartphone or computer.
• AT&T DriveMode®  – Helps curb texting and driving.  The app can be set-up to automatically send a customizable reply to incoming messages once a vehicle starts moving 25 mph. The auto-reply message is similar to an “out-of-office alert” and can reply to texts, emails and wireless callers letting your friends know that you are driving and unable to respond.*
• AT&T Messages – Displays all your texts, calls, and voicemail messages together in a single inbox, easily accessible from your computer, tablet, or mobile phone.

We’re guessing the update may have been slightly delayed which is why the post was pulled. Either way, AT&T HTC One X owners should expect an update to Jelly Bean any day now and if you do own the One X, let us know in the comments if you’ve received the update yet or not.

Source: AT&T Consumer Blog (Cached version)

Come comment on this article: AT&T Hints At HTC One X Finally Receiving Jelly Bean [Update Is Now Live]

Sony’s Xperia Tablet Z tablet is making its way to Japan and will be available Friday, March 22nd. Pre-orders start March 9th and consumers can expect a cost around 85,470 Yen or $906 US for the LTE version. The WiFi-only version won’t go on sale in Japan until April 13th with pricing expected to be around 60,000 Yen or $652 US. Here are the specs in case you’ve forgotten:

• 10.1 inch 1920×1200 shatter proof and scratch-resistant display (224 ppi)
• 6.9 mm thin and water resistant up to one meter for 30 minutes
• 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 quad-core processor
• 2GB RAM and Adreno 320 GPU
• 32GB internal storage with microSD card support
• 8 megapixel rear-facing camera
• 2.2 megapixel front-facing camera with 1080p video support
• Available with LTE or WiFi-only
• Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, GPS
• Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
• 6,000 mAh battery

Source: Xperia Blog

Come comment on this article: Sony Xperia Tablet Z With LTE Hits Japan March 22nd

Use of Android is constantly evolving and the latest distribution data shows Gingerbread on devices is down while use of Jelly Bean is up 3.2 percent. This news comes just one month after our last reported findings. To Android enthusiasts’ dismay however, Gingerbread is still on the majority of devices at 44.2 percent. Here are the latest stats:

• 2.3 Gingerbread – 44.2 percent
• 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – 28.6 percent
• 4.1 and 4.2 Jelly Bean – 16.5 percent
• 2.2 Froyo – 7.6 percent
• 2.1 Eclair – 1.9 percent
• 3.1 and 3.2 Honeycomb – 1.2 percent
• 1.6 Donut – 0.2 percent

Use of Jelly Bean continues to climb thanks to many devices being upgraded that were shipped with Ice Cream Sandwich, including the latest generation of Android devices running Jelly Bean right out of the box. It is a bit disappointing to still see Gingerbread on so many devices, but a lot of that has to do with older devices that never received an upgrade and is only a matter of time before those users opt for a new smartphone or tablet.

Source: Android Developers

Come comment on this article: Latest Android Distribution Reveals Gingerbread Down 1.4% and Jelly Bean Up 3.2%

ZTE announced a new partnership with Intel today, revealing that its future smartphones will run the upcoming Atom Z2580 processor. The Atom Z2580 debuted at Mobile World Congress and is a dual-core chip that can run up to 2.0GHz with Hyper-Threading support for better multi-tasking. This isn’t the first time that ZTE will use Intel Atom processors. The ZTE Grand X IN was released in September of 2012 and featured a single-core, 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z2460.

Performance of the Atom Z2580 is greatly improved over its predecessor, boasting double the performance and three times more graphics output. Battery life is also said to be improved and on the same level as comparable processors. ZTE still has yet to announce availability of phones running the Intel Atom Z2580.

Source: Business Wire

Come comment on this article: ZTE Smartphones Will Run Next-Gen Intel Atom Z2580 Processors

Opera has released a new beta version of its Android app which brings many improvements, including the switch from the Presto browser engine to WebKit. WebKit is used in Chrome as well as the AOSP browser. Here is the full list of changes and improvements:

• New look: Opera for Android sports a completely new user interface that is more elegant and built to the native specifications of the Android platform.
• Discover feature: This provides a new way of discovering content on the web. From the Discover panel of the startup screen, you can read a selection of popular articles and dig deeper into your interests, such as sports, technology, lifestyle or news. Opera has selected relevant global and regional sources, so let Opera do the surfing for you.
• New, revamped Speed Dial: Opera’s engineers discovered that users like to have links readily available in the Speed Dial, yet also wanted the flexibility of a bookmark folder. With the new Speed Dial, the bookmarks are fused together with the Speed Dial entries to provide a new experience. It’s easier to group, organize and rename Speed Dial entries or gather them in folders — all with the touch of your thumb.
• Off-Road mode: Opera for Android integrates the compression technology from Opera Mini, for faster browsing when conditions are rough. Bad network or costly roaming while traveling? Just switch to Off-Road mode and keep on surfing.
• Combined search and address bar: Opera has combined the search and URL field for a more elegant UI and more intuitive input.
• Tabbed browsing: The elegant tabbed browsing makes it easier than ever to browse, open and sort all your open browser windows on your phone. It even offers private browsing, just like the Opera desktop browser.
• History: With the easily accessible history mode, return to that page you saw earlier today fast — just swipe your finger to the right to access the content on the left on your home screen.
• Save for later: This feature lets the user download a complete webpage and read it later while offline. It’s perfect for reading long articles on flights without Wi-Fi or just when you don’t want to connect to the internet.

Opera also released a video showing off the new Android browser. Hit the break to check it out.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The new Opera for Android is available for download now from the Play Store and keep in mind it is in beta.

Play Store Download Link

Come comment on this article: Opera For Android Upgrades To WebKit Browser Engine, Download The Beta Now

T-Mobile launched the Samsung Galaxy S III around the same time as other carriers, but due to its 4G LTE network not being deployed until this year, there was no LTE support. That’s about to change now after the Galaxy S III was spotted passing through the FCC with T-Mobile LTE support. Known as the Samsung SGH-T999L, consumers can anticipate its arrival on March 27th. The phone will also have support for HSPA+ over the 850, 1700, and 1900MHz bands, including LTE Band 17 which is utilized on AT&T smartphones. In other words, T-Mobile customers who unlock this upcoming version of the Samsung Galaxy S III, could use it on AT&T’s network.

Source: FCC
Via: Engadget

Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S III With T-Mobile LTE Support Passes Through FCC

Acer is looking to create its very own phablet dubbed the Liquid S according to some clues left behind in an interview. Mobile World Congress (MWC) took place February 25th through 28th and the Taiwanese manufacturer had a small showing with devices such as the Liquid E1, a 4.5 inch Android smartphone running Jelly Bean.

In an interview for the official MWC paper, the President of Acer’s smartphone business hinted at an upcoming phablet:

“Unlimited exploration: the line between tablet and phone is blurring, a new breed of smartphone, the Phablet, is an irreversible trend to create new lifestyles. With above 4.7″ and quad-core+ processors, those giants offer extremely high resolution for multi-tasking, gaming, browsing and more. Acer will launch its Liquid S series as part of this growing segment.”

The company doesn’t currently have a phablet on the market and the Liquid S will be their first ever quad-core phone. Specs for such a device are non-existent at the moment and one has to take into question Acer’s definition of a phablet. There are more than a couple of Android phones currently available with screens larger than 4.7 inches. For example, the Samsung Galaxy S III has a 4.8 inch screen and the HTC DROID DNA has a 5-inch display. Depending on who’s holding it, they probably wouldn’t quality as a phablets.

Source: GSMArena

Come comment on this article: Acer Developing The Liquid S Quad-Core Powered Phablet

Google acquired Motorola Mobility in May of 2012 and has yet to make a big splash under new management. Patrick Pichette, Google’s Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, spoke today at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference. During Patrick’s session, he talked about Motorola and that its products in the pipeline are “not really to the standards that what Google would say is wow — innovative, transformative.”

When Google acquired Motorola Mobility, they inherited 18 months of product pipeline. Patrick made it clear that Google is waiting for the pipeline to end “while we’re actually building the next wave of innovation and product lines.” The tech giant has high hopes for Motorola and urgency to do well is at an all time high.

It was reported that tensions between Samsung and Google have been heating up with Samsung representing around 40% of all Android devices sold. Not only that, Samsung has sold 200 million more Android smartphones than the closest top manufacturer, but Pichette said that any rift between the two giants is overblown

Google’s CFO didn’t give a time frame on when we’ll start to see more “innovative, transformative” products from Motorola, however, we may see something before the end of this year.

Source: The Verge

Come comment on this article: Motorola Products Not ‘Innovative, Transformative’ Says Google CFO

The Sprint LG Optimus G is getting a nice upgrade to Jelly Bean with numerous reports of the update rolling out to owners. While it’s only been a little over three months since the phone’s release, Jelly Bean has been available on devices as early as July 2012. The LG Optimus G on the other hand, launched on Sprint’s network back in November running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich. There is no official word from Sprint if it’s a large or more gradual roll-out, but you can see if you have the update right now by navigating to your settings and selecting “About Phone” and looking for the software update from there. If you do manage to grab the update, you’ll finally get upgraded to 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. If not, then sit tight as you will probably get the update eventually.

Source: Phandroid

Come comment on this article: Sprint LG Optimus G Finally Receiving Jelly Bean